Bournemouth defeated Southampton 3-1, extending Southampton’s tough start in the English Premier League on Monday.
Southampton has yet to win after six matches and is stuck at the bottom of the table with just one point, tied with Wolverhampton. This is the worst start for the newly promoted team since 1998.
Brazilian striker Evanilson scored his first goal for Bournemouth, and Antoine Semenyo stood out by scoring one goal and assisting another during a dominant first half for Bournemouth.
“It is a goal we’ve been expecting of Evanilson,” said Bournemouth assistant coach Tommy Elphick. “He is so intelligent and makes such cute runs. We haven’t been finding him enough so I’m pleased for him. The first half is a representation of what we have been doing in spells. It was electric.”
Bournemouth climbed to 11th place in the standings.
The home team got off to a strong start, taking the lead after 17 minutes. Marcus Tavernier cleverly took a quick free kick that surprised the Southampton defense. Evanilson ran in and flicked the ball past the goalkeeper.
Semenyo, a former Bristol City player, was a constant threat on the right side. After 32 minutes, his cutback found Lewis Cook, whose shot was deflected in by Dango Ouattara.
Five minutes later, Semenyo scored himself with some fancy footwork, hitting a low shot into the far corner.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis scored for Southampton early in the second half, but it didn’t lead to a comeback. Southampton had more possession in the second half but rarely posed a threat to the Bournemouth goal.
“I didn’t recognize our team,” said Southampton boss Russell Martin. “There was no aggression or courage. They were looking around and in self-preservation mode on the pitch. I didn’t like it one bit. They showed fight in the second half but it was too late.”
